The Wareham/New Bedford Lodge of Elks No. 73 recently conducted its annual elementary school dictionary giveaway.

Over 500 dictionaries were presented to all third grade students at Minot Forest Elementary as well as elementary schools in Bourne and Fairhaven.

The dictionaries were presented to the students by Exalted Ruler David Carson, Past Exalted Ruler Susan Gifford, Jonie Hacket, Helen Sergi, Ted Hatch, and Buddy Guizzano.

This ongoing program allows all third graders to have a reference dictionary as their own and learn new words as they develop their vocabulary.

The Dictionary Project was founded in 1995 by Mary French of Charleston, South Carolina. Elks joined this movement in 2004. Nationwide they have donated more than 1.2 million dictionaries to third-grade students and their teachers as sponsors of The Dictionary Project